| Zambia |
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| Background: The territory of Northern Rhodesia was administered by the [British] South Africa Company from 1891 until it was taken over by the UK in 1923. During the 1920s and 1930s, advances in mining spurred development and immigration. The name was changed to Zambia upon independence in 1964. In the 1980s and 1990s, declining copper prices and a prolonged drought hurt the economy. Elections in 1991 brought an end to one-party rule, but the subsequent vote in 1996 saw blatant harassment of opposition parties. The election in 2001 was marked by administrative problems with three parties filing a legal petition challenging the election of ruling party candidate Levy MWANAWASA. The new president launched an anticorruption task force in 2002, but the government has yet to make a prosecution. The Zambian leader was reelected in 2006 in an election that was deemed free and fair. |
| Geography and Environmental |
Capital: name: Lusaka
geographic coordinates: 15 25 S, 28 17 E
time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
| Area Total: 752,614 sq km |
| Area Land: 740,724 sq km |
| Area Water: 11,890 sq km |
| Area Comparative: slightly larger than Texas |
| Coastline: 0 km (landlocked) |
| Climate: tropical; modified by altitude; rainy season (October to April) |
| Terrain: mostly high plateau with some hills and mountains |
| Elevation Extremes Lowest Point: Zambezi river 329 m |
| Elevation Extremes Highest Point: unnamed location in Mafinga Hills 2,301 m |
| Natural Resources: copper, cobalt, zinc, lead, coal, emeralds, gold, silver, uranium, hydropower |
| Land Use Arable Land: 6.99% |
| Land Use Permanent Crops: 0.04% |
| Land Use Other: 92.97% (2005) |
| Irrigated Land: 1,560 sq km (2003) |
| Natural Hazards: periodic drought, tropical storms (November to April) |
| Environment Current Issues: air pollution and resulting acid rain in the mineral extraction and refining region; chemical runoff into watersheds; poaching seriously threatens rhinoceros, elephant, antelope, and large cat populations; deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; lack of adequate water treatment presents human health risks |
| Geography Note: landlocked; the Zambezi forms a natural riverine boundary with Zimbabwe |
| Population |
Population: 11,477,447
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2007 est.) |
| Age Structure 0 to 14 Years: 45.7% (male 2,633,578/female 2,608,714) |
| Age Structure 15 to 64 Years: 51.9% (male 2,969,913/female 2,990,923) |
| Age Structure 65 Years And Over: 2.4% (male 116,818/female 157,501) (2007 est.) |
| Median Age Total: 16.8 years |
| Median Age Male: 16.6 years |
| Median Age Female: 16.9 years (2007 est.) |
| Population Growth Rate: 1.664% (2007 est.) |
| Birth Rate: 40.78 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Death Rate: 21.46 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Sex Ratio At Birth: 1.03 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio Under 15 Years: 1.01 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio 15 to 64 Years: 0.993 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio 65 Years And Over: 0.742 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio Total Population: 0.994 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
| Infant Mortality Rate Total: 100.71 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Infant Mortality Rate Male: 105.48 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Infant Mortality Rate Female: 95.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
| Life Expectancy At BirthTotalPopulation: 38.44 years |
| Life Expectancy At Birth Male: 38.34 years |
| Life Expectancy At Birth Female: 38.54 years (2007 est.) |
| Total Fertility Rate: 5.31 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
| HIV AIDS Adult Prevalence Rate: 16.5% (2003 est.) |
| HIV AIDS People Living With HIV AIDS: 920,000 (2003 est.) |
| HIV AIDS Deaths: 89,000 (2003 est.) |
| Religions: Christian 50%-75%, Muslim and Hindu 24%-49%, indigenous beliefs 1% |
| Languages: English (official), major vernaculars - Bemba, Kaonda, Lozi, Lunda, Luvale, Nyanja, Tonga, and about 70 other indigenous languages |
| Literacy Definition: age 15 and over can read and write English |
| Literacy Total Population: 80.6% |
| Literacy Male: 86.8% |
| Literacy Female: 74.8% (2003 est.) |
| Administrative Divisions: 9 provinces; Central, Copperbelt, Eastern, Luapula, Lusaka, Northern, North-Western, Southern, Western |
| Legal System: based on English common law and customary law; judicial review of legislative acts in an ad hoc constitutional council; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
| Economy |
| Overview: Despite progress in privatization and budgetary reform, Zambia's economic growth in 2005-06 remained somewhat below the 6-7% per year needed to reduce poverty significantly. Privatization of government-owned copper mines relieved the government from covering mammoth losses generated by the industry and greatly improved the chances for copper mining to return to profitability and spur economic growth. Copper output has increased steadily since 2004, due to higher copper prices and the opening of new mines. The maize harvest was good again in 2005, helping to boost GDP and agricultural exports. Cooperation continues with international bodies on programs to reduce poverty, including a new lending arrangement with the IMF in the second quarter of 2004. A tighter monetary policy will help cut inflation, but Zambia still has a serious problem with high public debt. |
| GDP Purchasing Power Parity: $11.51 billion (2006 est.) |
| GDP Real Growth Rate: 6% (2006 est.) |
| GDP Composition By Sector Agriculture: 19.9% |
| GDP Composition By Sector Industry: 28.9% |
| GDP Composition By Sector Services: 51.2% (2006 est.) |
| Labor Force: 4.903 million (2006 est.) |
Labor Force By Occupation: agriculture: 85%
industry: 6%
services: 9% |
| Unemployment Rate: 50% (2000 est.) |
Household Income Or Consumption By Percentage Share: lowest 10%: 1.1%
highest 10%: 41% (1998) |
| Inflation Rate Consumer Prices: 8.8% (2006 est.) |
| Industries: copper mining and processing, construction, foodstuffs, beverages, chemicals, textiles, fertilizer, horticulture |
| Industrial Production Growth Rate: 10.1% (2006 est.) |
| Energy |
| Electricity Production: 9.962 billion kWh (2004) |
| Electricity Production By Source Fossil Fuel: 0.5% |
| Electricity Production By Source Hydro: 99.5% |
| Electricity Production By Source Nuclear: 0% |
| Electricity Production By Source Other: 0% (2001) |
| Electricity Consumption: 6.692 billion kWh (2004) |
| Electricity Exports: 2.975 billion kWh (2004) |
| Electricity Imports: 403 million kWh (2004) |
| Oil Production: 140 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
| Oil Consumption: 13,000 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
| Natural Gas Production: 0 cu m (2004 est.) |
| Natural Gas Consumption: 0 cu m (2004 est.) |
| Exports: $3.928 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
| Exports Commodities: copper/cobalt 64%, cobalt, electricity; tobacco, flowers, cotton |
| Exports Partners: Switzerland 28.7%, South Africa 18.6%, UK 14.4%, Democratic Republic of the Congo 5.4%, Tanzania 5.1%, Zimbabwe 4.1% (2005) |
| Imports: $3.092 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
| Imports Commodities: machinery, transportation equipment, petroleum products, electricity, fertilizer; foodstuffs, clothing |
| Imports Partners: South Africa 47.6%, UK 12.6%, Zimbabwe 4.3% (2005) |
| Debt External: $4.397 billion (2006 est.) |
| Economic Aid Recipient: $640.6 million (2002) |
| Communications |
| Telephones Main Lines In Use: 94,700 (2005) |
| TelephonesMobileCellular: 946,600 (2005) |
| Telephone System General Assessment: facilities are aging but still among the best in Sub-Saharan Africa |
| Telephone System Domestic: high-capacity microwave radio relay connects most larger towns and cities; several cellular telephone services in operation; Internet service is widely available; very small aperture terminal (VSAT) networks are operated by private firms |
| Telephone System International: country code - 260; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 1 Atlantic Ocean) |
| Radio Broadcast Stations: AM 19, FM 5, shortwave 4 (2001) |
| Radios: 1.2 million (2001) |
| Television Broadcast Stations: 9 (2002) |
| Televisions: 277,000 (1997) |
| Internet Service Providers-ISPs: 5 (2001) |
| Internet Users: 231,000 (2005) |
| Transportation |
| Railways Total: 2,173 km |
| Railways Narrow Gauge: 2,173 km 1.067-m gauge |
| Waterways: 2,250 km (includes Lake Tanganyika and the Zambezi and Luapula rivers) (2005) |
| Airports: 111 (2006) |
| Military Expenditures Percent Of GDP: 1.8% (2005 est.) |
| Disputes International: in 2004, Zimbabwe dropped objections to plans between Botswana and Zambia to build a bridge over the Zambezi River, thereby de facto recognizing a short, but not clearly delimited, Botswana-Zambia boundary in the river; 42,250 Congolese refugees in Zambia are offered voluntary repatriation in November 2006, most of whom are expected to return in the next two years; Angolan refugees too have been repatriating but 26,450 still remain with 90,000 others from other neighboring states in 2006 |
| Refugees And Internally Displaced Persons: refugees (country of origin): 75,468 (Angola), 61,243 (Democratic Republic of the Congo), 5,669 (Rwanda) (2006) |
| IllicitDrugs: transshipment point for moderate amounts of methaqualone, small amounts of heroin, and cocaine bound for southern Africa and possibly Europe; a poorly developed financial infrastructure coupled with a government commitment to combating money laundering make it an unattractive venue for money launderers; major consumer of cannabis |